Portable electronic devices such as DVD players, radios, cassette recorders, CD players, personal media players such as Coby Electronics' PMP 4320 portable media player, and digital music replay (MP3) devices such as Apple's iPod MP3 player enable users to receive transmissions or to play content essentially wherever and whenever they want. Accordingly, users may enjoy these devices at home, when they travel and either hold them, clip them to their clothing, or associate them with a docking station.
When a portable electronic device is associated with a docking station a user may enjoy the output of his or her device while having free hands and obtain a higher quality sound by connecting the portable electronic device to a set of speakers that is housed within the docking station. Unfortunately, to date the primary focus of improving docking stations has been on the sound quality, and there have been few other efforts to optimize other features of docking stations to improve the user's experience. As portable electronic devices acquire increased functionalities, e.g. higher quality video features, consumers will continue to demand more enjoyable ways in which to use their devices. The present invention is directed to this need.